Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, have discovered that plants have a built-in thermometer that they use to control their development.

Plants are exposed to huge variations in temperature through the seasons as well as big differences between night and day. To cope with this, they sense the temperature around them, and adjust their growth accordingly. Publishing in the journal Cell, they have now identified a thermometer gene, which could be crucial for breeding crops able to cope with the effects of climate change.